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Event Details:

Course will be held:

Wayne State College

1111 E Hwy 35, Wayne, NE 68787

May 4-8, 2026 

Classes begin promptly at 0800 on the convening date and graduate by 1500 on the fifth day.  

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Course Information: 

The 5-day Inland SAR Planning course is a comprehensive look at inland search theory and its application to land and air searches for missing persons and aircraft with a focus on wilderness, not urban, searches.

The course consists of classroom lessons and practical, tabletop exercises. This course does not incorporate field training. Emphasis is on the planning necessary for effective area-type searching during an extended search using Probability of Success (POS), rather than just a few elements of POC (POA) or POD, to predictively allocate limited resources to their best effect. In essence, what to do after the rapid (hasty) search and specialty resources have not found the missing person. Additional topics include pre-plan development, legal aspects, the federal role in SAR, and related subjects. The course does not teach search tactics or technical procedures, as those are well covered from other readily available sources.

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Who Should Attend: 

The course is directed toward SAR leaders in federal, state, and local emergency services and law enforcement, as well as Civil Air Patrol, international, and volunteer SAR agencies -- those few people who are responsible for the planning and overall conduct of inland search missions. The target audience includes on-scene incident commanders and their planners, operations leaders, and up-channel reporting chain. The general searcher or search team leader, while arguably the most important part of the SAR team, may not find this course useful.

Aiming to "find the objective fast," the course centers on tools to help SAR decision makers determine where to search, how to divide an area between limited search resources, and how to craft the overall search effort to gain the best increases in likelihood of success at each step. The tools are mathematically based; they help quantify the uncertainties of the search problem to allow consistent application throughout a mission.

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Prior to Class: 

Prior to class, students should review and be conversant on the following from their own agencies to make class discussions more useful and help integrate class materials with their own search environments back home:

• Search pre-plans
• Decision making guidelines for where/when/how to search
• Agreements and relationships with other SAR agencies
• How their agency organizes on scene
• Recent search missions

A firm grounding in SAR terminology and employment, practical SAR experience, basic arithmetic and calculator skills, an understanding of local SAR mission management requirements, and an open mind are essential.

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Registration is open through March 23, 2026. 

Registration does not guarantee a seat in the class as total registrations may exceed course capacity. 

 Approximately 42 days prior to class start, you will receive an acceptance email confirming your seat in the class.

Courses are free, but each attendee is responsible for all personal expenses, travel, lodging, meals, etc.

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